Nestor Stocks
Nestor Stocks (ネストー ストクス, Nesuto Sutokusu) was the previous owner of Stocks Pub in Ilmarinen. Due to declining business, Stocks was forced to sell his pub and Royce Blixtrande of Wings of Archadia bought it from him. He now works as a bartender and manager overseeing day-to-day operations when the band is touring. He is also a retired mage of surprising power, though his age has impacted his full potential. In his youth, Nestor was also a mafia enforcer, carrying specific hits against crime bosses and their gangs. With his specialization in Smoke Magic, Nestor was simply referred to as The Smoking Mage. Appearance Nestor is an older looking man of average height and lean build with brown-orange hair and balding at the top. He has a large bushy handlebar mustache that connects to his long sideburns and thick eyebrows. His attire mostly consists of a white thermal tshirt with 2 buttons udnone near the collar and green cargo pants tucked into black boots. He also wears a white bandana tied near the front and usually seen with a cigarette in his mouth. He has a trademark x-shaped scar that's nearly the size of his entire face. The two scars intersect directly between his eyebrows. Nestor does not like to talk about his scar and keeps its origin a tight secret. When Nestor was a young man and an enforcer for the mafia, he sported a full head of hair kept short that spiked up towards the front, as well as having noticeable stuble around his jaw line. In terms of physique, Nestor possessed a much more muscular body. He also fancied wearing expensive looking clothing and accessories, such as dark suits and trendy sunglasses. Though he seemed to always keep his shirts unbuttoned at the top to reveal his strong chest and the collars overlapping his suit. Also during this time his trademark scar is absent, further hinting that Nestor acquired it during his later years. Personality Nestor provides comedic relief for the band, with Clyde describing him as a "grumpy old pervert, but with a heart of gold". He's a loud, cranky and an hot-tempered individual who scolds the band whenever they misbehave. He's not above hitting them on the head when aggrivated or pulling them by the ear as if they were children. He's the only person within the band that's capable of giving Zander a "time-out", something that still amazes them to this day. While initially seeming harsh towards them, he does deeply care for the band and is very protective of them, willing to throw himself in harms way without hesitation. After Royce purchased the bar, he stuck with the band and befriended them, eventually sliding into the role of a fatherly figure, while Nestor views them as his children, especially Royce. He offers the band an experienced man's perspective on life, though his difficult upbringing and traumatic events often skew his perception of the world as being a difficult place to live in and it shows off in a brooding manner at times. This is the reason for him being protective of the band and tries to keep them very close at all times. He greatly disliked the idea of seeing them leave Ilmarinen after Johan returned to their lives, and with Mina, persued them to Magnolia. He was greatly worried when Royce was hospitalized and openly lashed out at the band for their foolish persuit of Johan. Aside from his relationship with the band, Nestor is also known for being quite flirtacious with attractive women. Whenever they show up at the pub, he'll often comically knock Roffe out of the way to attend them. Nestor's efforts are mostly met with a slap to the face, but on occassion some females play along just to humor the old man. Regardless of his nature, he knows not to try any of these tactics with Mina as he is genuinely afraid of her and believes that he would be put through a wall before any of those tactics would work. Unfortunately, loosing Stocks Pub wasn't his only tragedy in life. Nestor also lost his wife and two children in a yet unknown accident. There is speculation that his scar has something to do with it, but the band tries not to prod into his personal life. He suffers with some bouts of depression and drowns it in alcohol, often leaving to go wander in the streets drinking from his flask. During that time, he's often comical and making jokes, but can also switch to a sad old man who cries heavily at the thought of his lose while giving great big hugs. That's when he becomes overbearing at times, trying to keep his new "children" close. History Very little is known about Nestor's past, but he seemed to have a dark history within Ilmarinen. Serving as a mafia enforcer, Nestor was responsible for eliminating his crime boss's competition and taking out several gangs. He was feared within the streets of the Foundation and Industrial Districts and carried out his orders with ruthless intent. It wasn't until he met his future wife did he begin to question the safety of his children with lifestyle that he was living. Much to the fury of his crime boss, he quit the business and retreated out of the city in hopes of leaving his past behind him. But before he could make his escape, his boss made an example of him and has his family murdered in front of his eyes and he was branded with his "X" shaped scar on his face. Plot *001. From The Top Of The World *002. Journey to Magnolia *003. Making an Entrance *006. Dark Days Coming *007. A World Without Music Magic & Abilities Nestor grew up in the Foundation District of Ilmarinen, which meant that he needed to do what was necessary to survive the more seedy areas of the city. As such, he trained himself to become tougher and stronger in order to protect himself and his family. His skills caught the attention of the local mafia and he became their enforcer. During his youth, he was described as mage with incredible power and potential with great offensive and defensive abilities, especially with his magic. Unfortunately, he's admitted that with time, his powers have rusted with age and may not possess the same levels as he once did. Magical Abilities Magical Power: Nestor was said to have possessed tremendous magical power in his youth. An example being that he was able to wield Smoke Magic, a relatively weak magic, with impressive strength capable of matching other powerful mages. He's also known to possess quite the array of Magics in his arsenal and can cast spells with great effect. When he was an enforcer for the mafia within Ilmarinen, he was greatly feared amongst the gangs. It is unknown exactly how much power he currently possesses, but has admitted that he has weakened with age. Smoke Magic Smoke Magic (煙魔法 Kemuri Mahō) Nestor uses a Holder Type Magic that controls and manipulates an orange colored smoke produced from the tip of his cigarrette. While a seemingly weak form of magic, Nestor is able to use this Magic to great effect for a variety of offensive and defensive purposes. He's able to shape the smoke into a variety of shapes and sizes, and can range from simple to complex forms, with even some constructs seemingly having moving parts though still created entirely of smoke. Unfortunately, while still durable enough to clash against most solid objects, it is considerably weaker against strong attacks and can break down over time. Although, to offset this weakness, Nestor is able to shift the objects produced from this Magic between gaseous and solid form to bypass defenses and surprise his targets. He has stated that when he was younger, Nestor's Smoke Magic was much stronger, capable of clashing against even the mightiest of magics. This earned him high praise within the city, as well as respect and fear among his enemies. When he served as a mafia enforcer, this magic was Nestor's signature magic and could effectively take out entire groups of enemies without effort. *'Smoke Crush' (煙打ち砕く, Kemuri Uchikudaku) By taking a long drag from his cigarette, Nestor produces large amounts of orange smoke that shapes into several long tendrils with fists at the end. He then unleashes these constructs to attack his targets with enough blunt force to render them unconcious or knock back his opponents. He's shown exceptional skill in casting this spell as he can selectively target an individual or several opponents by producing one or several arms to attack. Nestor can focus all of his constucts to pummel a target or group them all together to deliver a single, stronger attack. *'Smoke Screen' (煙幕, Enmaku) A rather crafty spell, Nestor is able to use the smoke he generates and create multiple copies of himself or create groups of people while masking their own presence. Smoke Screen functions through a combination of producing large quantities of smoke and reflecting ambient light across its surface to blend in to the environment around them and render whatever he wishes invisible. Creating replicas is mere matter of refracting light to produce colors so that they mimic different appearances. This spell is mainly used as a distraction to flee or create an opening for a surprise attack. While appearing as exact replicas that can move just as he would, these copies are still merely smoke held together through his will and can be destroyed quite easily if attacked directly. This spell isn't limited to copies of people as Nestor is able to make copies of inanimate objects, as well. *'Smoke Steps' (煙階段, Kemuri Kaidan) When travel isn't possible through regular means, Nestor generates a smoke cloud that he can step on and use as a means of transportation by mental command and lifting him into the air. He can stand on this cloud as if it were a solid surface and use it to move through the air at average speeds. He can increase the size of the cloud so that it can carry a group of individuals, but the more weight it holds, the more strain it places on him to maintain. On average, his level of skill and power allows him to carry up to 5 individuals for a short period of time before starting to tire. *'Smoke Blanket' (煙毛布, Kemuri Mōfu) If ever faced with the possibility of him or his allies falling from great heights, Nestor can create a wide blanket of smoke that he uses to catch them before hitting the ground, landing safely on a large cushion. He can even use this to catch falling debris if he or others are in danger of it landing on them. As with Smoke Steps, the heavier the weight, the more strain it can place on Nestor. *'Smoke Drill' (煙錐, Kemuri Kiri) Gathering his orange smoke, Nestor can form it into a swirling mass in the shape of a drill to bore through solid surfaces. While it is able to bore through dirt, wood, and to some extend, stone, it is unable to bore through thick metal or strong magical shields. By casting more smoke into the drill, he can effectively increase its size to cover more area, as well as increase it overall piercing ability. But because this larger mass requires much more concentration, Nestor can only maintain this spell for a short period of time before needing to recover. Instead of creating a larger version of the drill, Nestor can also produce more smoke to create duplicates of this drill to attack from several directions and swarm his enemies. *'Smoke Choke' (窒息煙, Chissoku Kemuri) After taking a long drag of his cigarette, Nestor exhales a large amount of orange smoke that moves towards an opponent's face. The purpose of this spell is to suffocate his targets by forcibly inserting the smoke through the nose and/or mouth, effectively choking them in the process. As with his other spells, Nestor has shown remarkable skill with this spell by being able to target specific inviduals in a room, while leaving others nearby completely unharmed. *'Smoke Bomb' (煙弾, Enka) Another spell which is used to temporarily interfere with an opponent's senses. Nestor creates several floating orbs of orange smoke that are scattered over an area. These orbs will then explode into large clouds that choke and blind anyone caught within the area. This allows Nestor to freely move without being detected and/or confuse his targets. Unlike the Smoke Choke spell, Smoke Bomb will effect anyone within the blast radius, regardless if they're allies. This means that Nestor only uses this spell against entire groups of enemies without fear of endangering his friends. Fire Magic Fire Magic (火の魔法 Hi no Mahō) is a Caster Type Magic that utilizes the element of fire, allowing the caster to conjure, manipulate, and control the element for various purposes. The caster can change the properties of this magic such as its "form", allowing it to take shape as a gas or solid element. Nestor uses this magic primarily for its explosive properties in conjunction with his Smoke Magic, though it is unknown if he requires the aid of his cigarette or if he can conjure the flames through his own power. *'Ember Rain' (余燼一雨, Yojin Hitoame) A spell that combines both Smoke Magic and Fire Magic. Nestor is able to cast the embers at the end of his cigarrette, quickly transforming into dozens of small controllable fireballs, which he can use to attack his opponents by raining down on them. Upon hitting an object, each fireball explodes in a bomb-like effect, resulting in medium sized explosions. While not massively powerful, Nestor can still use this to temporarily immobilize his targets and slowly deal damage. *'Heavy Smoker' (愛煙家, Aienka) During the Smoke Bomb spell, Nestor can magically imbue the smoke orbs with highly combustible Fire Magic that explode like real bombs, dealing heavy damage to anyone within the blast range. When enchanting the smoke orbs, they begin to glow bright orange before detonating, signaling the change in magic type. Since smoke can easily infiltrate areas that would otherwise be inaccessable, Nestor uses this to blast targets that are behind stronger defenses. Stats Nestor's statistics are listed to the left. These statistics are a close approximation of his baseline abilities. They do not reflect his full potential, and may vary during moments of stress or determination. As such, they are not to be taken as definitive stats, but merely as an overall indication of his level of power. His statistics are broken down to: Offense, Defense, Speed and Intelligence, with a fifth statistic specific to his character which is Grumpy. Trivia Coming Soon.